Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved, Acts 4:12.
My wife and I hope that our Blog may be used as a tool to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ. We desire to minister His message of salvation to anyone who is willing to hear us. We believe His free gift of salvation is available to all, and we invite whosoever will to come and take freely of the water of life, Revelation 22:17.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

2nd John Part 2

1:1
The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and
not I only, but also all they that have known the truth, cont.

I do not expect this portion of my writing to be well
received, but I am convinced that it is the Biblical structure the church was
meant to be founded upon, and we have gone far away from it, led back into a
priesthood/worshiper dichotomy courtesy of the RCC and similarly designed church
structures. A plurality of elders, independently governing the local church
they are a part of is God’s design for His body, with the Holy Spirit ruling
over all.

We note that John is writing his note to the “elect lady”
and her children. This term, along with similar ones such as “predestined” has
been the source of vicious contention within the Christian church for
centuries. The Greek word for elect is “eklektos” which is a derivative of
“eklegomai.” The Greek means “to select or make a choice.” Strong’s Concordance
states that this word can mean “to choose for oneself; not necessarily implying
the rejection of what is not chosen, but “choosing” with the subsidiary ideas
of kindness or love.” The word is used 16 times in the New Testament. Our Lord
employs it 7 times throughout the gospels. Paul uses it 5 times in his
epistles. Peter uses it twice; John likewise employs it twice, both times in
this little letter. Another similar word “ekloge” is found 6 times in the New
Testament, every time translated “election.” Of these 22 usages of the variants
of elect Paul uses the word 5 times in Romans.

To substantiate that there is in fact selection going on,
as the original Greek language implies, I’ll cite two verses where the word in
question occurs.

“And unless the Lord had shortened those
days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He
shortened the days,” Mark 13:20.

“For the children not yet being born, nor
having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works but of Him who calls,” Romans 9:11.

God’s choice is involved in the election, or predestining
of individuals to salvation. God seems to show especial concern for the elect’s
welfare, and wants them to know that their election is in no way tied to some
degree of merit they have attained. In Romans 11:5 Paul describes this as “the
election of grace,” going on to explain how God’s prestinating grace
cannot mingle with man’s works or effort to be saved. They are mutually and eternally
exclusive, Romans 11:6.

Peter,
when addressing the self-same issue, wrote that we are “elect according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father,” 1st Peter 1:2. So our election stems
not from human works and effort but God’s grace given to some knowledge He was
aware of before He created us. Paul contributes, saying “And we know that all things work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according
to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to
the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren,”
Romans 8:28-29. Peter says that our election is preceded by God’s
foreknowledge. Likewise Paul states that God’s calling is preceded by His
foreknowledge. He does not predestinate unless He foreknows. This mysterious
doctrine of election, Paul also reveals, is tied up with the acknowledgement of
the truth which accords with godliness; the result of the reception of such
truth is eternal life, promised before time’s beginning, Titus 1:1-2.

1 comment:

The doctrine of election has long been a source of argument, largely because people have either rejected it outright, or gone overboard on it. The extremes are rarely valid about any subject.

How the church is to be administered is another major conflict. I Corinthians 12:5-6 states, "And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all." We spend a lot too much time arguing over things God has not specified rather than obeying him on things we do know. Interestingly, in the Old Testament God nearly always chose a single individual to take primary responsibility, and often does today as well. In any case, they are not set themselves above the people in any way.